1. Lee Byung-hun has received acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably Joint Security Area ; A Bittersweet Life ; The Good, the Bad, the Weird ; I Saw the Devil ; Masquerade ; and the television series All In, Iris, and Mr Sunshine.
Lee Byung-hun portrayed T-1000 in Terminator Genisys, and Billy Rocks in The Magnificent Seven.
Lee Byung-hun appeared in a recurring role as the Front Man in season 1, and as part of the main cast of season 2 of the Netflix hit survival series Squid Game.
Lee Byung-hun was the first South Korean actor to present an Oscar at the annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Lee Byung-hun's career began in 1991 after a KBS talent audition and making his debut in the television drama Asphalt My Hometown.
Lee Byung-hun drew attention with the action drama Asphalt Man and romantic film The Harmonium in My Memory, but it was only in 2000 that he made his big breakthrough with Park Chan-wook's Joint Security Area.
In 2001, Lee Byung-hun's popularity continued to climb when he starred in melodramas Beautiful Days and Bungee Jumping of Their Own.
From 2005, Lee Byung-hun focused on film, earning praise for his performance in A Bittersweet Life directed by Kim Jee-woon, which was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Lee Byung-hun was nominated for Best Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards, and won at the Chunsa Film Art Awards, Baeksang Arts Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.
Lee Byung-hun reunited with director Kim Jee-woon in the "kimchi western" The Good, the Bad, the Weird, taking on his first villain role.
Back in Korea, Lee Byung-hun appeared in I Come with the Rain opposite American actor Josh Hartnett and Japanese actor Takuya Kimura.
Lee Byung-hun returned to television in late 2009 in the espionage action thriller Iris as a secret agent who finds himself at the center of an international conspiracy.
Lee Byung-hun reportedly received over 100 million won per episode for his role, the third highest in the country's drama history.
Lee Byung-hun's performance earned him the Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
In 2010, Lee Byung-hun starred in I Saw the Devil with Choi Min-sik, his third collaboration with Kim Jee-woon, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Lee Byung-hun was praised for his portrayal of dual roles in the lavish period drama Masquerade.
Lee Byung-hun won Best Actor at the Grand Bell Awards for his performance.
Lee Byung-hun then co-starred in the American film Red 2, the sequel to the 2010 action-comedy hit Red, alongside Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich.
Lee Byung-hun received praise for his "scene-stealing" role as a young and ambitious warrior with a lowly status, but the film failed to do well and was criticized for its plot.
Lee Byung-hun then starred in Woo Min-ho's political crime thriller Inside Men, which became the top grossing R-rated movie of all-time at the Korean Box Office.
In 2016, Lee Byung-hun featured in the American crime thriller Misconduct.
On February 28,2016, Lee Byung-hun attended the 88th Academy Awards and presented the Best Foreign Language Film award with actress Sofia Vergara.
Lee Byung-hun was the first Korean actor to present an award at the Oscars.
In March 2017, Lee Byung-hun signed with major Hollywood agency United Talent Agency.
Lee Byung-hun was cast in the Hollywood action film Radiance.
Lee Byung-hun then starred in historical epic The Fortress, and comedy-drama film Keys to the Heart.
In 2018, Lee Byung-hun made his television comeback in Mr Sunshine, a historical war drama written by Kim Eun-sook.
The series was a commercial and critical success, and Lee Byung-hun won the Grand Prize at the 6th APAN Star Awards.
In 2020, Lee Byung-hun starred in the political drama The Man Standing Next.
Lee Byung-hun starred in the political thriller aviation disaster film Emergency Declaration, which premiered out of competition at the 74th Cannes Film Festival in July 2021 before its theatrical release in South Korea on August 3,2022.
Lee Byung-hun is the first Korean actor to be selected for the award, which is given for outstanding achievements in Asian cinema and culture.
Lee Byung-hun reprised his role as the Front Man in the second season, released in December 2024.
In 2022, Lee Byung-hun starred in the tvN television series Our Blues written by Noh Hee-kyung.
Lee Byung-hun will appear Um Tae-hwa's disaster thriller film Concrete Utopia alongside Park Bo-young and Park Seo-joon.
On September 14,2023, Lee Byung-hun was one of the guest speakers chosen to introduce rock star Yoshiki at his imprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre.
Lee Byung-hun formed a management company, BH Entertainment, which manages many actors including Han Hyo-joo, Go Soo, Jin Goo, Jinyoung and Han Ji-min.
Lee Byung-hun owns a shop, BHNC, which sells hats, scarves and wallets.
Lee Byung-hun is noted in the video game industry for providing his likeness for the main character, Wayne Holden, in the 2006 game Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
In 2010, Lee Byung-hun was named California's tourism promotion ambassador to Korea.
In 2013, Lee Byung-hun was selected as an honorary ambassador for that year's annual meeting of the Association of Film Commissioners International, a group dedicated to helping facilitate international coproductions.
In March 2011, Lee Byung-hun donated 700 million won to the Korean Red Cross to help local residents affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
In February 2020, Lee Byung-hun donated 100 million won through the Fruit of Love of the Community Chest of Korea and his donation was used to provide sanitary products to vulnerable groups.
In October 2020, Lee Byung-hun made voice donation to multi-media type Braille sensory book by The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.
On December 30,2020, Lee Byung-hun donated 100 million won to the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation to help children from low-income families who are having difficulties in life due to COVID-19.
On July 12,2021, Lee Byung-hun donated 100 million won to Asan Children's Hospital in Seoul on his birthday.
On March 6,2022, Lee Byung-hun donated 100 million won to Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help residents affected by the Uljin and Samcheok wildfires and his donation is said to be quickly used to provide temporary shelter for the victims who are evacuating from their homes.
Lee Byung-hun has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee, who won the Miss Congeniality portion of Miss Korea in 1996.
Lee Byung-hun graduated from Hanyang University with a major in French Literature and the Graduate School of Chung-Ang University with a major in Theater and Cinematography.
Lee Byung-hun was previously romantically linked with fellow All In lead Song Hye-kyo beginning in the early-2000s.
Lee Byung-hun married actor Lee Byung-hun Min-jung on August 10,2013, at the Grand Hyatt Seoul.
Lee Byung-hun's wife gave birth to their child, a son, Lee Byung-hun Joon-hoo, on March 31,2015.
Lee Byung-hun then started to suffer panic disorders, and found it difficult to attend award ceremonies.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, TV show host Kang Byung-kyu appeared on the set of the TV drama Iris that Lee Byung-hun was working on at the time.
Lee Byung-hun was accused of bringing in gangsters and causing a disturbance due to a conflict with a producer that he claimed spread rumors that Kang was behind the feud between Lee and Kwon.
Lee Byung-hun was cleared of the illegal gambling charges on March 19,2010, with prosecutors citing no evidence.